Kojak: The Show

Kojak began live as a one-off TV-Movie for CBS' Thursday Night Movie in 1973 - "The Marcus-Nelson Murders". The 3-hour TV-Movie won two Emmys and was based on the real life case of the Wylie-Hoffert murders in New York, 1963.

The leading role of Lt. Theo Kojak was taken by Telly Savalas, who was given the perfect stage to showcase his superior acting qualities. Savalas was nominated for "Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role" at the Emmy's but lost out to Laurence Olivier. The success of the TV-Movie lead to a spin-off TV series for Savalas as Kojak.

The show centred around the Greek-American detective Theo Kojak, who worked at Manhattan's 13th Precinct

115 episodes of "Kojak" ran from 1973 - 1978 on Amercian TV Network CBS.

Savalas reprised his roll in 1989 for some TV-Movies for ABC Mystery Movies, by this time Kojak had been promoted to Inspector!